Greetings, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to all of the ERA Members and Friends,
It continues to be my pleasure, to not only serve you as President of the ERA, but also during this time of transition in our region, as the one who has been tasked by the ERA Board of Directors to oversee the ministry of the region. I am extremely thankful for the dedication of our board, since we have had many additional board meetings in addition to our regular quarterly meetings and many more additional responsibilities as well. I am also thankful for our 6 conference executive committees and ministerial committees for they have shouldered much more of the responsibility for their pastors and churches during this time. And of course our Administrative Assistant, Missie Twitchell has been an invaluable help in keeping the office functioning.
I would like to bring you up to date on a couple of important issues that have been taking place in our region.
First, the ERA Board has established a job description for an interim superintendent as well as a committee to search for a candidate for that position. The committee is comprised of Alan Chamberlin and Josh Rice. They have been in contact with a potential candidate.
Second, the ERA Board has voted to sell the ERA residence/office. It is an aging building and continues to need costly repairs. The board is in the process of 1. determining what needs to be repaired prior to selling, 2. Determining what ERA records need to be retained and where to store them, and 3. Contracting with a real estate agent to represent us for a sale.
Third, I want to bring you up to date on the funds that the ERA Board established to be a financial blessing to the Twitchells. Donations to the fund that is through the region have reached over $21,000 and the GiveSendGo fund has reached $7875! Both of these funds are still active. If anyone desires to give to the ERA Fund please make the check out to the ERA and send it to the Vernon Advent Christian Church, 4554 Fort Bridgeman Road, Vernon VT. 05354. Att. Lisa Godard. Please make the check out specifically to the ERA and not to the Twitchells nor the Vernon Church. If anyone desires to give to GiveSendGo, please go to: www.givesendgo.com. Type in: “The Twitchell Family” in the search line. Follow the prompts from there.
As I close this months column I also want to thank all of the readers of this newsletter for their interest in our region and your prayers for the board and for the many other ministries that are taking place in the Eastern Region of Advent Christian Churches.
George,
ERA President
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Adrian K. Todd is a 1983 Pastoral Studies graduate from Berkshire Christian College. He also has degrees from two other colleges. He was baptized and joined the Margaretville Advent Christian Church in New York State in 1973. He served as a Trustee, Deacon, Elder, Sunday school superintendent and Treasurer, among other offices and positions in the church. He also served as interim pastor of that church for a year and four months until he was called as associate pastor, working with Rev. Bruce Burks at the Vernon Advent Christian Church in 1989. When he was in college he did his internship at another Vermont church, the one in North Springfield, with Rev. William Monroe as his supervisor. While at Vernon, he was ordained on November 5, 1989. After seven and a half years there, he was called to full-time pastoral ministry at the West Chapman Advent Christian Church in northern Maine. He was also there for seven and a half years. He then returned to New York State and had a couple of secular jobs including, working as a lift attendant at the top of a mountain at a ski center for four seasons. He then went back into the ministry, being hired by a local United Methodist district to pastor two of their churches. After five years, in 2016 he was re-called to the Margaretville Advent Christian Church and has been serving as full-time pastor there ever since. (For the first six months there, he pastored all three churches). In addition to serving as pastor he has also been the organist. Over the years he has held a number of positions in Advent Christian conferences as well as in local church associations. In 1986, he was part of a group that toured the Holy Land with Dr. Oral Collins and Wes Ross. He lives in Fleishmanns, New York and owns the house where he was brought up. He is planning for retirement and expects to remain in the beautiful Catskill Mountains.
Over the past 50 years, I have been building up my Advent Christian library which now contains many volumes. When I first went to Berkshire Christian College I began hearing about Dr. David A Dean's doctoral thesis called the Echoes of the Midnight Cry: The Millerite Heritage in the Apologetics of the Advent Christian Denomination, 1860-1960. I had always hoped that it would eventually become published as a book and now thanks to his son, Rev. David E. Dean it has, and I am in the process of reading it. I've always been interested in the Advent Christian denomination ever since I became a part of it. There is a rich heritage in the history and teachings of the denomination. One passage of scripture that sums up the work of nearly 170 years is Titus 2:11-14 which says: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
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Prayer List
~Pray for safety and God's blessing to be upon the 40 travelers that will be on the BICS Israel Trip
~From Brad Ellis, Executive Director of ACRC
- Wisdom in our engagement with State and Federal Officials
- Expedited review and approval by State and Federal Officials
- Valued engineering to contain project cost
- Fundraising and donor support
~Pray for God's blessing and guidance for the Maranatha and Heritage Conference Annual Meetings
~Pray for wisdom and guidance for camp leadership across our region as they plan the summer camp ministries
~Pray for the ERA Board of Directors as they seek to discern God's direction in the search for an interim Superintendent
~Pray for our Conference leadership as they seek to minister to the conference pastors and churches
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March 25-29 - BICS tour of Israel
March 23, 6:30 pm - Musa Powers Memorial Service at Vernon AC Church and on Vernon Church public Facebook page
March 27 - Heritage Conference Church Leadership Dinner
April 1 - Memorial Service for Ray Penney on Village Church Facebook page
April 29 - Heritage Conference Annual Meeting in Haverhill, MA
May 2 - New Life Conference Church Leadership Dinner
May 6 - Maranatha Conference Annual Meeting held at Ossipee, NH
May 13 - BICS Commencement
June 25-July 1 - SPAM Camp
August 7-11 - ACGC Triennial Convention will be held at Ridgecrest Conference Center, NC
October 20-21 - ERA Annual Convention. Place to be determined
BICS Ministry Team places and times:
April 16 - Hope Church, Lenox, MA, 10:45 AM
April 28 - Calvary Bible Church, Meredith, NH, PM
April 29 - Blessed Hope Church, Waterville, ME, PM
April 30 - Advent Christian Church, Friendship, ME, 9:30 AM
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Harbinger Bible Conference
Spring Rally - May 18-21 Speaker: Dr. Sam Warren
Summer Rally - July 27-30 Speaker: TBD
Fall Rally - Sept. 21-24 Speaker TBD
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Green Mountain Bible Camp |
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Beebe Advent Christian Camp
July 9-16
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Mechanic Falls
Mechanic Falls has some staff needs: Campmeeting week - cook
1 of 2 weeks - Nurse
Lifeguard
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Big Lake Campmeeting
Josh Cheney is the evangelist
Campmeeting July 15-21
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Camp Marion
Campmeeting July 22-30
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Lakeside
Teen Camp July 14-22
Junior Camp July 23-29
Family Camp July 29-Aug. 6
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Camp Faithful
Campmeeting July 29-Aug. 6
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Scholarship Opportunities
Dubois Scholarship - Sponsored by the Maine State Conference, amount awarded depends on number of applicants and funds available; This scholarship is given in loving memory of Rev. Wendell DuBois, Tammy DuBois and Virgene Hughes. It is designed to assist those seeking a call to vocational ministry in achieving their academic goals. The application needs to be postmarked by August 31 to be considered. The scholarship monies will be disbursed during the 2nd semester of the academic year.
Berkshire Christian College Scholarship Fund - Scholarship amount varies depending on the program of study. The purpose and description of the scholarship is:
- Seminary education in partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary at four campuses - two in Mass., one in Fla., one in NC. (www.gordonconwell.edu) Advent Christian students receive up to a 50% tuition reduction. (Additional scholarship assistance may also be available.)
- Theological formation through the Ministry Training Institute (MTI). Students enrolled in MTI are eligible for scholarships through Berkshire Christian.
Castle Hill Scholarship Fund - The Castle Hill Advent Christian Church closed its doors in December of 2019 due to declining numbers and the difficulty of finding pastoral leadership. Through a generous donation, a Ministry Scholarship will be established in their name. It is their desire that this ministry scholarship be established to help fund individuals who are seeking vocational ministry training either from a ministry training program within the Advent Christian constituency, or if a person chooses to seek to prepare for vocational ministry outside of the Advent Christian constituency, the Christian institution must be accredited.
Applicants are required to fill out the application and have all of the required information turned in to the Superintendent’s Office by September 15th in order to be considered by the Eastern Regional Board of Directors. The Board will present scholarships to qualified applicants by dividing $2000 dollars among them per year. If only one applicant applies, the cap for an individual scholarship is $1000 dollars made out to the school of their choosing.
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Vernon Homes – Green House Project
Human experience has taught us that individuals look forward to things like graduating, getting married, buying a home, retirement, Christ coming… but very few look forward to moving to a nursing home. Nursing homes have a wide array of reputations, but at the end of the day the traditional nursing home environment is “institutional” in design and operations and is typically not very desirable. There is a movement spreading to change the environment and the delivery of care in nursing homes called Green House. The Green House premise is that individuals should live in a home that allows them the opportunity to achieve continued personal growth and have autonomy within their intentional living environment – not sharing a room with a stranger, decide when to get up, opportunity to bathe in a personal bathroom, decide what activities are of interest, see and smell food being prepared…
Vernon Green Nursing Home, part of the Vernon Homes campus, has a history of providing exceptional care, yet it is an aging dinosaur and will be destined for extinction. Vernon Homes is in the process of trying to build the Green House model on our campus to replace the aging Vernon Green. To accomplish this there are many initiatives in process:
Architectural and Engineering Design and Construction Cost Estimates – to be able to determine the cost and scope of the project we’ve needed to engage with an architect, engineers, and a construction manager. This work drives financial feasibility and much of the application and permitting needs.
Vermont’s Certificate of Need (CON) Application – the Green Mountain Care Board (GMGB) oversees all state funded healthcare expenditures for the State of Vermont and will need to approve our proposed project as the project would increase daily rates of individuals receiving Medicaid funds in our Green Houses. The CON Application had Statuary questions that needed to be addressed covering all aspects of the project from design, cost and delivery of care – our CON Application was just under 200 pages and was filed on December 28, 2022. Then comes the clarification questions. To date we’ve received two letters from the GMCB with 22 clarification questions. Our clarification question responses have added another 50 pages to the application so far and we are still preparing our responses to the second clarification letter from the GMCB. This process will continue until the GMCB deems our application complete. Then we’ll probably have a hearing before the GMCB and then they have so many days (thirty I believe) to render a decision. It’s been indicated to us that this process could take most of the year to complete.
ACT 250 – this is the State of Vermont’s environmental permitting regulations. This includes permits/studies for storm water, domestic water, sewage, wetlands, endangered species, native American endorsement, demolition of existing structures, historical preservation of historical sites, sound studies (yes you heard me – sound studies). We are moving as many of these items forward as we can, but technically the CON approval should be issued prior to these permits being applied for.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Funding – the project cost will be primarily funding through a low interest loan from USDA. However, before we can receive USDA funding approval we must have the CON and ACT 250 approval. However, we felt it is important that we engage with the USDA office to keep them apprised of the progress of the project.
Construction Loan Financing – working to identify a lending institution to borrow funds to be used for the construction phase of the project that will be paid back with the USDA funding when the project construction is completed.
Capital Campaign/Grant funding – in an effort to offset the cost of the project, Vernon Homes hopes to raise funds to assure the project is a success while we continue to provide services and care that is gracious.
All of this to say the totality of this project is huge including the amazing outcome of services and care to be provided. However, the hurdles to get there are much bigger than anything Vernon Homes has ever undertaken and seems daunting at times. It is, however, not bigger than our God and we ask that you join with us in prayer for God’s provision to move this project to fruition.
Brad Ellis
Executive Director
Vernon Advent Christian Home
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The Rev. Allen Latimore, who presently serves as Clerk for the Eastern Regional Association, was literally born into the Advent Christian denomination. He was born while his family attended the former Worcester Advent Christian Church which today is Oak Hill Bible Church in Oxford, Mass. He has vague remembrances of Dr. Carlyle Roberts and Rev. Vernon Burtt serving as pastor in Worcester when he was very young. But it was the Rev. Arthur Stone who was his pastor in his formative years and baptized him as a teenager and who he credits for investing in his young life.
Being an avid athlete it was Sports & Music Camp that also played a huge part in his faith. Coach Gene Peters, Rev. David Ross & Rev. Wes Ross were founders of this wonderful camp ministry and played a big role in it as Allen attended there as a teenager. Sports & Music Camp played such a pivotal role in his faith that Allen still serves as the Director of Sports over 30 years since he was a camper.
Unfortunately, the former Berkshire Christian College in Lenox, Mass. closed the year that Allen graduated from high school. Then many years later the Berkshire Institute of Christian Studies was established but by then Allen was already involved in ministry. But, as He always does, God knew what He was doing as Allen was able to attend Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass for free because the love of his life who he met on a blind date at ENC, Catherine, worked for the college. Catherine would later go on to serve as the Administrative Assistant and Financial Secretary under Superintendent Rev. Clint Taber.
Allen got his feet wet in ministry at his home church of Oak Hill Bible Church and enjoyed quite a few years as a youth pastor. He later served as youth pastor at the Emmanuel Advent Christian Church in Rochester, NH. Today he is the pastor of the Torrington Advent Christian Church where he has served since June of 2004. Building relationships has always been a very big part of his ministry philosophy. He believes you need to start there before being able to minister to someone in any substantive way. He also enjoys preaching and teaching the Word of God.
Allen & Cathy have two children. Their oldest child Kristin was married to Westley Loignon in October and today the two attend and serve the Goodwin’s Mills Advent Christian Church in Maine. Their youngest, James, is a senior this year at Oliver Wolcott Technical High School who recently earned his Eagle Scout. Allen & Cathy are very proud of their children and the way they are both following and serving their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Allen’s older brother Kenny is also the pastor of the Garner Advent Christian Church in Garner, NC.
Mark 15:39: “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely, this man was the Son of God!’”
We are a society that cuts to the chase. We don’t like to wait around for things. We want things instantly and sometimes even that is not fast enough. Many people are the type who would rather read the last page of a book to see what happens instead of reading through the whole book. I think we can see this mindset in the way many people approach Christianity or religion. They might say, “Tell me what matters. Skip all the fluff and get right to the heart of things. What is most important?” I think we see the answer from Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 when he writes: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”. There it is. The Gospel in a nutshell. Jesus was killed, buried and resurrected. It all points to the cross.
We do need to be careful though. We don’t want to make some “thing” more important than Jesus. The cross is not more important than Jesus. But what is important is what Jesus did on the cross. He died for our sins upon that cross. It is through the cross and what Jesus did on it that provides a way for you and me to get to God. That is why the cross is so important.
As I thought about the whole Easter event I realized something. Many people got close to the cross, maybe even touched it, but were very far away from Jesus. Think of the soldiers. They were right there for hours. They nailed Jesus to the cross itself. They were there gambling for his clothes in the shadow of the cross. Here is the one event that changed the world forever happening right before their eyes and they have no clue, except for maybe the centurion. To the group of soldiers it is just another Friday and he is just another guilty man dying for his wrong doings. Except this man had no wrong doings. And He was not dying for anything He did; He was dying for the sins that we committed along with everyone else who has ever lived. Imagine, the Savior of the world is right there in front of them but they don’t know it. Talk about being so close, but yet so far away.
Sometimes this can also be an appropriate way to describe the religious of today. They can also be very close to the cross and yet be far away from Christ. They have majored in the minors. They have made many other things more important than the cross or sadly even Jesus. They are more concerned with how many people were in church on Sunday or in making sure that our doctrine is followed to a “T”. They spend most of their time trying to expose every sin and right every perceived wrong. In doing these things they have forgotten what is most important. Even though they do these things under the shadow of a cross in their midst they forget that it is Jesus that is most important. In doing all their “things” they have become distracted from the most important thing in their lives – their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me encourage you this month to take a step back and make sure that in all your church busyness (or just plan busyness) you do not become so busy that you no longer have time for your Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
“Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou has died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side.”
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Craig Libby grew up in Houlton, Maine where his passion for evangelism began at an early age as his family hosted numerous missionaries while they were home on furlough. After graduating from Cedarville University, Craig moved to Portland, Maine where as an entrepreneur his businesses were able to sponsor evangelistic mission projects in the U.S., Central Europe and Asia.
It was through one of those mission projects God called Craig to take a medical team to northeast India. On that team he met Kristi Ellis, who grew up in the Ashland AC Church and attended Hope Church while attending and subsequently serving at BICS. They married in 2004 and Craig felt God’s call to leave business and become a full-time missionary with Kristi at Mexican Medical Ministries. Craig and Kristi have served together for 19 years and their passion is to share the Good News of the Gospel through evangelistic medical outreaches.
Craig serves as an elder and treasurer of North Park Community Advent Christian Church in San Diego, CA, and serves on the ministerial committee of the Advent Christian Conference of Southern California. Recently, he began service as ACGC’s Latin American Director. In this role he will assist country leaders with their leadership needs and use evangelistic medical outreaches as a tool to strengthen and grow current churches and develop new ones.
Matthew 14:32, “Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” Who were the “those” in this verse? They were none other than the disciples. The men that God chose to use to change the world!
The disciples had already witnessed about twenty miracles including water to wine, the son of the Capernaum official, Peter’s Mother-in-Law, calming the storm, and most recently the feeding of the 5,000. It wasn’t until they saw the faith of Peter and the fulfillment of that faith by Jesus that the disciples saw Jesus as the Son of God.
Matthew 14 begins with the disciples mourning the beheading of John the Baptist. They were facing insecurity and political uncertainty. Jesus led them up to the hills to rest but many followers came with them leading to the miracle of feeding the 5,000. Then Jesus called the disciples down to the lake and commanded them to get into the boat while He went to the mountains to pray. Jesus didn’t just send them out into a storm without experience. He had already calmed a storm with them (Matthew 8) and remember half of these men were experienced fishermen. Jesus knew it was time for them to stand on their own two feet of faith and trust in Him without His presence with them in order to prepare them for future assignments of faith. Jesus knows that we can’t change the world if every day is a safe place that doesn’t challenge us, confront us, or reach into the depths of the very fabric of who we are as believers.
We know the story, it was the fourth watch of the night, and the disciples had been rowing against the storm for up to 9 hours. One translation says they were frightened out of their wits. That’s when the Bible says Jesus came walking on the water. Why didn’t He simply appear in the boat? He certainly could have. I believe He chose to walk towards them so they could see that what they feared the most was under His feet! What they feared the most was under His control!
Opportunities that God gives usually only happen when we are willing to take risks. Peter could swim, we read about that in John 21, but Peter couldn’t walk on water! He asked God to do something he knew was impossible for him but possible for God. Are we content to just live our lives within the context of our own possibilities? Or, is God calling us to ask, seek and act upon seemingly impossible acts requiring faith so that others in our boat may truly know that Jesus is the Son of God.
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Meetinghouse Village reminds active and retired AC pastors that they may stay free of charge on Sunday and Monday overnights at our Tower Memorial Suite. Other nights are available at the reduced rate of $25 per night. Availability is dependent on prior bookings and certain Covid-19 protocols. To inquire about a reservation, email info@meetinghousevillage.org.
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ACGC Triennial Convention 2023 |
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Click on either document above for information on the upcoming Triennial Convention. |
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Previous copies of the monthly newsletter are on our website. |
Have a mobile phone? You can now give to the Region through Venmo!
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Online Prayer Meeting Tuesdays from 9-10 AM |
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ERA Board of Directors
Rev. George Karl, President - sumkarl@yahoo.com
Rev. Dwight Dean, Vice President - fsufandsd@gmail.com
Rev. Allen Latimore, Clerk - aclatimore@netzero.net
Mr. John Jones, Treasurer - pastorjoj@gmail.com
Rev. Doug Tourgee, Heritage Conf. President - dougin401@aol.com
Rev. Alan Chamberlin, Maine Conf. Vice President - polarpastor@roadrunner.com
Rev. Josh Rice, Maranatha Conf. President - jrice@emmanuelacc.net
Rev. Derek Irvine, New Life Conf. President - drick1221@gmail.com
Mr. Adam Facteau, New York Conf. President - afacteau@twcny.rr.com
Rev. Ken Perkins, Nova Scotia Conf. President - Ken.perkins@EastLink.ca
Mrs. Deb Reed, ERA Representative to ACGC - deborahjoreed@yahoo.com
Rev. Steve Lawson, ACGC Executive Director - slawson@acgc.us
The Eastern Regional Association Newsletter is published as a ministry of the Eastern Regional Association of the Advent Christian General Conference.
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Eastern Regional Association
32 Four Rod Road, Rochester, NH 03867
Phone: 603-332-1412 / Fax: 603-332-1648
www.aceasternregion.org
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